Some days, things just don’t go your way. One minute you’re on the run from the cops, wanted on suspicion of driving recklessly; the next you’re being torn apart by an alligator. According to Louisiana State Police, that’s more or less what happened to Victor Rivas, a 40-year-old man whose attempt to outrun a DWI stop led to nearly becoming a bountiful dinner for a gator.
NBC News reports that it all started this past Sunday after reports of a reckless driver on Interstate 10 in Jefferson Parish, just outside New Orleans. The Toyota Supra allegedly hit a concrete barrier, blowing out one of its tires. It fled the scene, but troopers later found the Supra in neighboring St. Charles Parish.
After they pulled it over, they found Rivas, who police say was looking a little intoxicated. All but confirming their suspicions, Rivas fled the scene in the middle of the stop before cops could arrest him on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.
Was the Suspect Aware He Was Being Eaten by an Alligator?
The cops say that Rivas jumped from an elevated portion of Interstate 310 into the Louisiana swamp land below in an attempt to evade capture by the police, only to land in the jaws of a hungry gator. Just not immediately. He made his way through the swamp, being spotted walking along Highway 61 before running back into the marsh when the cops got near.
And then a good Samaritan gator decided to join the fray. As he was attempting to fade back into the wetlands, Rivas got his arms chewed up by a gator. He somehow managed to worm himself free of its powerful bite and kept on running. He was eventually found, but this guy was so wily that they needed to call in some drones to spot him from the sky.
Rivas is either very tough or was so intoxicated that he was probably only vaguely aware that his arms had been chomped by a gator. Rivas was treated at a hospital before being booked into the Nelson Coleman Correctional Center in Killona. He faces charges that include driving while intoxicated, resisting arrest, and being a fugitive from Jefferson Parish, with some additional warrants alleging hit-and-run and careless driving. His bond was set at $17,500.
The post DWI Suspect Ran From the Cops, Got Attacked by an Alligator and Kept on Running appeared first on VICE.
